The Stand of New Llanelli
by Semper Honesta
Summary: The gears of war grind on. Dirt, blood, sweat and tears are spilled as each human colony is lost to the eons, yet humanity struggles on. The year is 2546, the high value Inner colony of New Llanelli has finally been discovered by the Covenant. Here's is the story of one colony's ferocious fight for survival.
1. Chapter 1

**The Stand of New Llanelli**

Chapter 1- Prologue:

**1600 Hours, April 23****rd****, 2546 (UNSC Military calendar). Outskirts of New Llanelli, Brunel System **

"All units, this is command. Recon drones and scout teams report heavy Covenant troop mobilisation on all sectors. All personnel are to report to designated battle stations immediately. Happy hunting marines, command out."

Corporal James Stewart peered through the scope of his BR55 battle rifle and mentally sighed for what seemed like the millionth time of his life. As he surveying the blackened battlefield that was once lush grassland, looking past the lines of barbed wire, burnt out vehicle husks, craters and glassy patches, he could just about make out an indistinguishable mass of moving purple that stretched further than his vision could register, and heard the unmistakable din of an army of thousands preparing for war

_Oh the Covenant are definitely up to something_, he thought, _way to be subtle._

Yet something worried him, the Covenant might be stubborn in their choice and execution of tactics, but they weren't dumb or stupid. If they weren't even trying to hide the fact they were about to attack, it meant they either couldn't, or didn't need to. Neither of the options gave James much reassurance. Furthermore, command rarely used adjectives in their transmissions, hence the description, "mass covenant," didn't bode well with him.

_We barely managed to hold the line when the Covenant decided to "probe" our lines yesterday, how the hell are we going to survive this? _His gaze swept over the multi-coloured blood stained battlefield, they had managed to make the brute led army pay dearly for their attempted offensive yesterday if the carpeting of Covenant corpses on the floor was any indication, but their swarm like tactics had left the battalion only 70% combat effective. It had gotten so bad that brutes and hunters had managed to clamber into the trenches, and it was only the quick thinking of the Captain and his clever use of warthogs and CQB tactics that managed to push them back, and prevent a massacre that would have lost them their first line of defence. Thanks to the Captain and the heroic efforts of 1st battalion, 22nd Marine Infantry regiment, the successful defence of the suburbs of New Llanelli meant tactical control of the city was still in UNSC control, and thus, one of the last remaining UNSC strongholds of the colony world of New Llanelli was still standing.

Why _who would anyone name a planet after the capital city of said planet? That's just confusing_, he mused.

He was jolted from his thoughts with the arrival of a familiar blonde sliding into position next to him, a M392 Designated Marksman Rifle strapped on the back, half- dragging half- carrying a cart neatly stacked with DMR, BR ammunition and several fragmentation grenades.

"Lancaster, as graceful as ever." he quipped as he bent down and began stuffing BR magazines into his bandolier. "Enjoy your nap sleeping beauty whilst I was holding the fort?"

Sophie Lancaster rolled her grey eyes at the taunt and turned her flushed heart-shaped face to glance briefly at him, before restocking her ammunition supply as well. "Shut it James, I had to drag this all the way from the second line." She paused for a second before adding. "Besides, I had to throw in more BR ammo to account for all the shots I know you miss." A smirk creeping onto her face as she said that.

James raised an eyebrow. "You're one to talk, at least I don't miss my shots on the battlefield AND the ones I take in the bar." He retorted.

"You sure you don't miss in the bar? Because I kind of remember that fit chick you tried to hit on..." She feigned a thoughtful look. "Hmmm I suddenly can't remember what happened, do you?" She asked with an innocent look on her face.

"Don't remember," he quickly muttered. _Time to change the subject_. "Have you seen Sarge?"

"He's back with the LT discussing something." She replied jerking her head towards the direction of New Llanelli. She looked towards the mass of purple. "Activities increasing, they are going to attack soon." She muttered in a grim tone.

James nodded, his face set in a tight grimace now. The banter just a few seconds ago was forgotten, his mind now focused on the huge battle he knew was about to start. However, his deep thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his com crackling to life.

"Stewart, Lancaster, what's your status, over."

"Gunny, this is Stewart. We're both green and good to go, have visual of at least a regiment of covvies, what's our orders sir?"

"You aren't the only one noticing that Stewart. Right now, the whole of 1st Battalion is to defend this Suburb front. B Company has the damn pleasure of being assigned the middle, with A and C covering our flanks. Since you both are the platoons marksman, I need you two to hang back a bit but stick close to us. Lancaster, you're on offensive duty, Stewart- defensive or counter marksman. You know the drill, mix it up, relocate if need, the usual. I'll call you both for direct support if need."

"Yes Gunny." This time it was Lancaster that spoke. "What support do we have?"

"We've got the barbed wire, machine guns and rockets from D company and roughly 20 hogs, 3 tanks and limited artillery and air support." He paused for a second. "But we won't need to use them, won't we marines?"

"NO GUNNERY SERGANT WE WON'T." They both screamed in reply.

"Ooh- rah! That's what I want to hear. Now eyes down range and fingers steady marines. Gunny out."

As per any Covenant assault, the attack began with wraiths shooting their brilliantly glowing spheres of death high into the sky, which slammed down into emplacements and defences. Luckily, UNSC forces were dug in, so casualties were relatively light, only losing several unlucky marines, two machine gun emplacements and one warthog.

Next came the grunts and choppers charging across the field, plasma and spikes flying everywhere, some hitting unlucky marines. Banshees swooped down from the skies, staying true to their name with their infamous shrieks.

Yet 1st battalion refused to cower and responded with a wall of lead and rockets. Banshees dropped from the sky, shredded to pieces from hundreds of assault rifles and rockets opening up. The brute and grunt charge was stopped in its tracks by an invisible wall of lead, killed trying to make a suicidal charge across terrain with barely any cover. James opened up with his battle rifle, targeting enemies with heavy weapons. A grunt with a fuel rod stuck on the barbed wire was first to go, a clean headshot that stopped it mid-step. Sophie knocked brutes off their choppers with her DMR, grinning in satisfaction as one of the bikes continued on without its rider and ran over an unlucky grunt.

Yet this suicidal charge had not been done in vain. A handful of brute choppers had managed to evade the storm of bullets and reached the trenches, although they were killed in the end, they took several marines with them. Grunts arced fuel rods towards the trenches, killing some and injuring many defenders. The forlorn charge allowed the remaining Covenant army of more brutes, jackals, grunts, wraiths and spectre reinforcements to stream forward.

The battlefield quickly descended into chaos as the might of two armies clashed like a sledgehammer impacting a metal wall.

For Stewart and Lancaster this was a target rich environment that they thrived in. She would take down brute squad leaders, depriving them of leadership and stopping entire advances, and let machine gunners and rifleman further forward to take care of the grunts. He meanwhile would watch for jackals that were harassing friendly forces and watch her back for counter snipers, it was a game of wits and speed that he thrived on.

"Soph, you've got a brute with a bead on you, your 11 o clock." He said, pushing her down roughly just as she was about to come out of cover. "Bait and I'll take him out."

She nodded and popped out of cover for a second before ducking back. Two carbine bolts whistled past where she was.

The three shot burst of the battle rifle rang thrice. "Brute Chieftain down, you're clear." Immediately the firepower from the covenant slackened at the death of their leader. Yet this was only temporary and the intensity picked back up quickly after.

Minutes turned into hours as the battle continued. Warthogs, tanks, artillery were deployed in response to the constant flow of wraiths, banshees, spectres and ground forces. Yet the ferocity of fighting from both sides remained the same.

"LANCASTER, PIORITY. Grunt fuel rod and Brute with a brute shot next to that destroyed wraith. I've tagged them for you, take em out or drive them away, they've got a MG team pinned down."

"Yes Gunny, I see them, switching targets." She realised it was quite a priority task as the silenced MG was allowing Covenant forces to stack on the flanks. "James cover my back." She added.

"Got you soph." Duck down after you take the shot, you're attracting a lot of heat."

The gunshots of the DMR were barely audible over the cacophony of the battlefield but the effects were seen. The brute fell backwards, five neat bullet holes drilled into his head; the grunt didn't fare much better with its left eye shot through and methane mask punctured.

Immediately, Sophie dropped on to the floor. Half a second later, three different carbine shots flew past where her head had just been.

"I got them." James said, leaning out of cover. His battle rifle rang out in succession."Confirm three jackals dead, we are relocating."

"Copy Stewart, good job both of you."

Stewart sighed. _It's not going well_, he thought. Theoretically speaking, their defensive, attrition, fighting- from- hardened- defences warfare should be relatively easy, after all they had the advantage of terrain and position. Any normal enemy would have given up or tried another strategy ages ago, unfortunately, they were fighting the Covenant, who made up their lack of tactical knowledge with unlimited numbers.

Already, he could see this taking their toll. 1st battalion was quickly being withered down and only 70% of all units were combat operational at this point. Him and Sophie were now constantly being targeted by enemy marksman and snipers, making their job increasingly difficult and risky, he had nearly lost his head the eight time already. Their battalion had used up their artillery support and was down to one serviceable tank and a handful of battered warthogs. The battlefield that was once devoid of cover was now littered with husks of vehicles and numerous deployable covers, making the Covenant's assault much easier. This could not last much longer, not without support.

They moved to another section of the trench. He slid his body along the top edge to keep a low profile and looked down the scope, cursing when he did.

"What is it?" His partner asked, busy reloading her DMR.

"Another armoured charge, spectres and choppers accompanied with more brutes and hunters." He cast a tight frown. _This might not end well_. "Oh and a scarab."

"A SCARAB?! Ah bloody shit" He watched as her chest sank- her equivalent of a mental sigh. "How come command only gives us two dozen hogs and three tanks to take fight against two Covvie regiments and their armoured battalion? Where the hell's our support?"

James nodded but didn't reply. It was the same story everywhere since the war started. Humanity outgunned in space, air and on the land. It was only on water where they had a clear superiority, but those battles were too few and too insignificant to count towards anything.

"B Company, this is Captain Lee. We are pulling back, squad leaders you have your assignments. Good luck men"

"2nd Platoon, fall back! Heavy Weapons last ones out, everyone else double time it, NOW." The Sergeant all but shouted.

As the UNSC marines scrambled back. The Covenant, sensing a weakness, surged forwards, closing the gap between them and the trenches. Machine gunners didn't dare stop firing, pelting the advancing enemy in a storm of lead, but even that wasn't enough. Hunters and Wraiths fired magnificent blue green bolts of plasma, the deadly salvos arcing in the darkening night sky and silencing many guns forever. The remaining Scorpion MBT was struck by two plasma bolts and ceased to exist in a loud explosion that briefly lit up the night.

Brute choppers smashed into the remains of the first line of trenches, although the brave rocket infantry and machine gunners had dented their numbers, the surviving brutes were merciless, decimating fleeing troops and crushing what remained of the heavy weapons forces.

But luckily, the retreating rifleman units had managed to fall back to their second and third lines by now, and together, opened fire at once, momentarily stopping the brute advance. The remaining 3 serviceable warthogs fired continuously, providing cover and buying time for what surviving heavy weapons units to fall back and regroup.

The second and third trench lines were less developed than the first line and James and Sophie found themselves regrouped with the remains of second platoon.

"Gunny, why are we stopping here? There's a damn scarab moving up and you know we can't hold them with what's left of our forces."

"There is support on the way Menez. There's a team of Spartans who have just infiltrated enemy lines with a Havok tactical nuke deep. We need to hold this position to provide a distraction."

"By the time that nuke detonates there won't be anything left here to distract that scarab with!"

"Can it marine this is bigger than all of us here." The Gunnery Sergeant said angrily and knocked him hard on the head. "That centre serves as the headquarters for covvies leadership, the staging point for several battalions filtering in and has a corvette hovering above it. It's crucial that we TAKE IT DOWN." He shouted, grabbing him by his armour and shaking it roughly. "Who cares if we all die here? I'll gladly die here if it means giving this planet and city a sliver chance at survival. So load up, point those barrels down range and lets show these so called brutes, what it means to screw with humanity. OOH-RAH MARINES."

"OOH-RAH." Came the reply of dozens of rejuvenated marines.

"That's what I want to here, everyone replenish grenades and ammo loads. Gunners stack center, marksman and snipers deploy to the flanks, everyone else spread out. Prioritise jump-jets and targets on deck."

As James took up position along the sides, he was joined by his familiar blonde friend, looking dishevelled and fatigued as she jammed a DMR clip into her gun.

"Looking beautiful even in the face of death, princess."

She snorted. "Still a million times better than what you could ever hope to look like."

The corner of his lips flitted upwards. "Maybe so, but at least I look somewhat human. I mean, you kind of resemble some sort of animal."

She swung her head round to glance at him. "Did you just indirectly call me a bitch? Wow, went from princess to dog in less than 10 seconds, no wonder women don't dig you."

He paused for a second, _should he go for it?_ He had a good response but he wasn't sure if he should go there..._Ah screw it, we're all going to die anyways_.

"Well, that's not what your sister thought last shore leave." He grinned at her shocked look and wide eyes. "In terms of looks, usually the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but I guess you're an exception."

She remained silent for a lengthy period before groaning. "Oh really funny, you don't even know my sister."

"Nope, I don't."

"Real mature James." She rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm sort of worried that they aren't going to let you past those pearly gates with that maturity levels and manners."

"Worried about me?" He looked at her with a curious expression. "I'm more worried that they won't let YOU in, mate."

"And why's that?"

"Too ugly." He replied sniggering. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shake his head, a small smile threatening to burst into a larger one on her face.

He looked down range at the steadily advancing scarab. _Just a little over 500 men, all armed with light weapons and a handful of rockets against a monstrous scarab._ Numbers were useless here, the main cannon could wipe out 1/5 of their number in just one strafe. _Maybe if we shoot the rockets at the same time..._

"Hey Lancaster." She looked up, a questioning look on her face. "It's been a good run hasn't it?" He asked.

"Aye, a great run." She replied ruefully. "Great to have you along, shame we can't make a cup of tea right now."

He chuckled as they both shared a laugh. It was a platoon-wide joke of the two British marines adoration of tea. The two marksman had hit it off amazingly well from the beginning, developing a strong friendship of banter and sarcasm that was strengthened in and out of battle.

_And now it's all about to end._ He watched as the scarab advanced ever closer.

"1st Battalion, this is Major Woods. All units open fire! Aim for the right leg joint."

The roar of 500 rifles split the night sky, tracer rounds flashing across like shooting stars. But the Scarab continued onwards, shrugging off the rounds like they were mere raindrops. Rockets flew out of their tubes, but many missed at such extreme range, the ones that did hit failing only scratched the armour plating. Then, the scarab stopped, and with a familiar whine, charged its plasma beam.

James watched in shock as the plasma beam vaporised much of the western units. In the blink of the eye, a hundred plus souls extinguished. He could only gasp as it continued forward undeterred.

"MARINES OPEN FIRE, STOP STARING AND SHOOT THAT RIFLE GODDAMN IT"

The sound of the Sergeants voice jolted him out of his daze and he joined his remaining comrades, pumping round after round of lead into the area around the Scarab's right knee joint. A second wave of rockets flew into the air, this time all of them managing to hit the target.

Miraculously, the scarab buckled, its right knee joint giving away to the sustained lead and metal storm, forcing it to self-repair.

But unfortunately for the scarab, it did not have time to do that. A flight of F-99 UAV's screamed through the airspace, unleashing deadly missiles that slammed into the remaining joints of the crouching beast. The anti-air guns spewed plasma into the air as it tried in vain to intercept the nimble aircraft streaking past and circling for a second pass.

Somehow the numerous streams of plasma managed to clip one of the F-99's wing and it spiralled out of control. Unluckily for the scarab though, it spiralled and crashed onto the Scarab's main plasma cannon, igniting the fuel and explosive payload in the Scarab and in the UAV, and thus destroying the venerable assault platform.

And as if on cue, a flash as bright as the sun ripped across the landscape, signifying the detonation of a nuclear weapon and the destruction it would wreak.

Then slowly, the startled marines of 1st Battatlion, 422nd Regiment gave a victory cheer.

_They had won, for now obviously, but they had won and survived_. A smile began to break out on Jame's tired and weary face. He looked over at Sophie, a similar smile cracking on her face as well. Death claimed many lives today, the extent of their loss would hit him later. But for now, he basked in the afterglow of victory, as he leaned back to watch the mushroom cloud blossom over the world of New Llanelli.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Halo belongs to 343 Industries. As a writer on this fanfic, all characters belong to 343 except for those of my own creation, nor do I intend to profit from these writings.**

* * *

**The Stand of New Llanelli**

_\- The Stand of New Llanelli is a story based on Halo Cannon, although it utilises a liberal dose of creativity and OC characters due to the lack of information on it._

_\- Characters introduced in prologue will make an appearance later on, so don't worry if you miss James and Sophie!_

* * *

Chapter 2- The Skirmish:

**08:30 Hours, January 22****rd****, 2546 (UNSC Military calendar). **_**UNSC Audacious,**_** Halcyon Class Light Cruiser, In Orbit Over Planet New Llanelli, Brunel System.**

"_Do not go gentle into that good night."- Lieutenant Kaplan, RSO Hadron, quoting Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. _

Beauty. It was all there was.

The planet of New Llanelli, enveloped by the twinkling darkness of space, shone brightly as streams of light danced off the surface, vast palettes of blue, green and white stretched out as far as the eye could see. The swirling, entwined textures blanketed the planet like paints on a paint tray, as if the thick yale blue, moss green and ghost white textures in conflict with each other, each trying to overwhelm the other and shine through, forming a delicate image. From above, the human world of New Llanelli pulsated brightly against the backdrop of space, joined by the thousands of dotted scintillating specks of light, hundreds and thousands of light years away.

It was a scene of peace and beauty, a scene replicated daily for the past hundreds, thousands, and millions of years, taken granted everyday by many.

But not to Rear Admiral Darren Anderson. At the age of 43, he was a veteran of the war and had seen too much of its horrors to not treasure the magnificence available to him on his bridge. Enrolled in Luna Naval Academy at the young age of 18, the Human-Covenant War broke out the year he graduated and he was immediately thrust into action, serving firstly as a young ensign on the bridge of the _UNSC Pillar of Autumn._ From then on, he continued his career, valiantly defending Human space under the battlegroups and fleets of Admiral Preston Cole, slowly climbing the ranks and learning directly from the legendary Admiral himself.

For 18 years that remained unchanged until Cole's death at Psi Serpentis. After that, he was promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral, and his heavily damaged Destroyer exchanged for a gleaming new, upgraded Halcyon Class Cruiser, the _UNSC Audacious_.

But despite losing over 300 ships at Psi Serpentis, the Covenant onslaught continued, worst of all, they had taken humanity's best hope with them. Cole had somehow managed to hold the line just above the Outer colonies- Inner colonies boundary whilst juggling inferior numbers, firepower, manpower and resources and logistics. Furthermore, any armed forces personnel- Anderson included, ranked officer or above could _see_ the talent Cole held, in the way that he devised a coherent, effective overall strategy that held the line and inflicted maximum damage with minimum losses. His excellent grasp of strategy, tactics and astounding natural intuition as to when to advance, retreat or gamble it all meant his success was tangible in smaller scale battlefields as well.

It was no wonder morale within the officers has dropped quicker than a rock on Jupiter when news of his death became public. Without their biggest obstacle in their way, the covenant finally broke the stubborn defense and began the invasion of the inner colonies.

Hence why Anderson was here. High command had deemed it necessary to defend Brunel system, and thus Anderson was placed in command of 18 warships, and ordered to beat back any Covenant hoping to destroy New Llaneli and the several mining systems sprinkled around the system.

He had been surprised when he had been given this assignment, 18 ships defending one system that on paper, consisting of only a few mining stations and one agriculture based, medium sized colony, seemed astray from the usual UNSC doctrine- sacrificing insignificant colonies to build up defences of important ones.

Only when he arrived in system, did he find out how wrong he was. Briefed by ONI personnel, he learnt his earlier beliefs were only partially correct. New Llaneli had indeed served primarily as an agricultural colony when first founded, but several years later, had garnered the attention of ONI when mysterious artefacts and structures- now known to be Forerunner origin, were found. As per typical ONI and UNSC protocol, the discovery was kept hushed up and military presence was greatly expanded as a small ONI-Military research lab was set up. Growth of the colony was artificially limited to prevent security leaks and unwanted eyes.

But as the Great War dragged on, the pressures of desperate militarisation, refugee resettlement and population growth meant New Llaneli was forced to expand- especially when large deposits of titanium and rare earths were found. The industrial and tertiary sectors of New Llaneli bommed as humanity rushed to extract the wealth under the soil and new cities were built to accommodate the rising population. ONI and military presence expanded exponentially as New Llaneli's significance jumped, turning a once negligible colony into a bastion for humanity's struggle. Not only did New Llaneli now contribute knowledge and resources to the Great War, the discovery of forerunner ruins and military infrastructure also turned the small lab into a major Research and Development centre, second only to Reach.

Anderson's musings were cut short with the appearance of a miniature figure appearing on his bridge holotank.

"Morning Admiral, I hope you had a good sleep."

"As well as one can expect to Zheng, especially with your driving skills," Anderson replied, as the blue figure chuckled at the response.

Anderson's AI, Zheng, was an interesting fellow. With the avatar of an imperial Ming dynasty Chinese naval officer, Zheng had upon creation, decided to pay homage to his namesake, the 14th Century Chinese Explorer-Admiral Zheng He. Like similar Smart A.I's, he had developed his own unique personality, and adopted one that combined serious professionalism with playful sarcasm and wit.

"Apologies Admiral, but it was you that decided the middle of the night was the best time to push our new engines to the limit."

Anderson nodded absently, to be fair, it had been him that decided to push the _Audacious_ to max speed at 3am in the morning. His reasoning being if the experimental new engine melted from the strain and killed them all, at least half the ship would be asleep and would die peacefully.

"Well, seeing as we are all alive, how did it go?" He asked.

"Fantastically well," Zheng said as he opened a scroll and began reading from it, "The prototype fusion engines managed to boost overall power by 250%, so we matched the top speed of a _Charon Class _Frigate for a short amount of time. I predict the engines could have been pushed to 300%, but I didn't want to risk it."

"Was it close to meltdown?"

"No sir, rather our inertia dampeners were the ones pushed to the max, I decided to stop there rather than continue and have half the sleepers fall out their beds." He closed the scroll shut and vanished it. "Also, I figured it wouldn't be good for morale if you fell out of bed and had to go to the infirmary, you know, with your fragile bones and all."

Anderson snorted, his supposedly "old age" was a running joke between him and the A.I, and one that Anderson had no comeback to.

Instead, he let this thoughts process the capabilities of his new engine. A 300% increase in power was nothing to scoff at and opened new tactical possibilities on the battlefield. Not for the first time, Anderson was glad he was stationed above a major research and development base. The _Audacious_ upon receiving the standard _Halcyon Class_ refits- installation of a _Marathon Class_ MAC cannon and improved point defense network, was a formidable foe already, but the new engine simply made it menacing. However, it wasn't only his ship that received upgrades, his entire fleet was outfitted with some new prototype or technological advancement, ranging from an entirely new ship class, to minor improvements.

"Zheng, if you can pull up the agenda today?"

"Certainly Admiral, the destroyer _UNSC Peking _as of 35minutes ago has just begun installation and trial of the _Fortress_ point defense network at an orbital refit station. Estimated time till completion: roughly 47 hours and 25minutes. All marine and non-essential personnel have been given two days leave."

Anderson nodded. "What of the Orbital MAC testing?"

"Testing of the new Mark V "Super" Orbital defense platforms are proceeding on schedule, platform designations ODA001 and ODA003 are being prepared for firing. Currently initiating final connection check between ground based power generators and orbital transformers. ODP's will begin firing simulations afterwards. If stuck to schedule, actual firings at asteroids will commence at 14:00 local time."

"That long?" Anderson asked.

"Yes Admiral, frigates need time to head to assigned positions to clear the area, and observe and record firing, whilst the heavy carrier _UNSC Epoch_ is loading technicians, scientists and equipment for close observation, before deploying to asteroid belt for th-" The A.I abruptly stopped mid sentence.

"Admiral, Remote Scanning Output _Hadron _detecting unscheduled slipspace whispers on the systems edge"

"Put them through," Anderson replied immediately. Looking around, he realised the entire bridge had fallen silent and was watching him.

_Slipspace whispers can mean nothing, _Anderson thought anxiously, _might just be a fluke asteroid, or a friendly ship_..._or at least we hope it is..._

"Admiral, Lieutenant Kaplan of RSO _Hadron_. Slipspace whispers detected just off the gas giant Euclydias, slipspace probes have been deployed."

"Lieutenant, frequency analysis of whispers?"

"Vague sir, large range of data. However _Haldon_ computer calculates high median and mean values of wave-particle. Further suggesting-"

"High velocity and high tonnage," Anderson finished. That ruled out the both possibilities of a friendly ship or fluke asteroid. "Zheng confirm analysis," he ordered.

"Calculations correct Admiral, I've checked them 12 times since whispers detected."

"Are you sure there is no incoming traffic to Brunel stated to arrive around this time?"

"Negative sir, none that match these data or are scheduled to arrive this time period."

_This is it then, _Anderson thought, sighing inwardly. Mentally he steeled himself, readying himself for the inevitable.

"This is it men," he said in a calm, composed voice. He took a second to gather his thoughts.

"Cancel all existing fleetwide agendas, I want the entire fleet on maximum readiness NOW, weapons hot and ready to engage, and get the damned prowler on mine-laying duty," He barked as the bridge exploded into a furry of activity. "Zheng, inform Ground Command and the Air Force their planets about to be invaded and get them on DEFCON 2. See what you can do about the UNSC Peking as well, I need every ship I can. Lieutenant Kaplan, good work, keep me updated, try and get me an ETA on arrival and more specifics"

"Yes sir, Kaplan out."

Anderson paused for a breath, around him emergency alarms blared and lights flashed. Beneath his feet, he could feel the mighty warship rumbling as it prepared for battle.

"Zheng, what's the status of the ODP's? We need all the firepow-"

"Sir! Kaplan, Slipspace probes detect incoming mass, they confirm the calculations."

"Zheng confirm," Anderson said, jerking his head at the A.I. "Lieutenant, can you isolate specifics? Numbers, tonnage, velocity, vector?"

"I'm trying sir, but it's a large cluster so tonnage is difficult to calculate. Heisenberg isn't helping as well... Numbers...I would estimate roughly nine or ten covenant ships given available data."

"Admiral," Zheng interrupted, "I second what the Lieutenant said. Also, electromagnetic spectroscope reflections conclude the cluster is heading towards our system. He paused for a moment, "Calculating...sir! Cherenkov radiation just past Euclydias has just spiked exponentially. Slipspace exit imminent."

"I want a visual on screen now," Anderson exclaimed. Immediately, the screen in front of Anderson materialised into a view of Euclydias from different cameras.

The bridge fell silent for the second time within 5 minutes as several black circles ripped open the fabric of space, and emerged the bulbous, rounded fronts of Covenant ships. The ships gracefully glided out, radiating an elegant air of menace.

"Sir, one CAS class assault carrier, three CSS Class Battlecruisers, two RPV class destroyers and two CAR class frigates have exited slipspace. Total: eight ships.

"Zheng, declare Winter Contingency for Brunel System. Coms, drop a beacon to HIGHCOM informing them the Covenant are here. Lieutenant," Anderson added, "Enact Cole protocol and get the hell out of there."

There was a moment of silence as RSO _Hadron_ failed to respond.

"Lieutenant Kaplan, do you copy?"

"Copy that Admiral, affirmative on your first, negative on your second."

"What? Lieutenant elaborate!"

"We are purging all databases now and flooding the reactor with deuterium, this place will be worthless in under a minute. But we can't leave Sir, you need all the information and time you can get, and we have un-deployed jammers and spy probes to accomplish that. Besides, our measly shuttle will never outrun a seraph."

"Anderson nodded, even though the crew of _Hadron_ couldn't see him. With a heavy heart, Anderson replied. "Acknowledged Lieutenant. Thank you RSO _Hadron_, see you on the other side."

"Copy that Admiral, best of luck. This is the final transmission of Remote Scanning Outpost _Hadron_. _Hadron_ Out."

_The first casualty of the Brunel campaign_, Anderson thought bitterly. Around him, he could see his crew and Zheng dipping their heads in respect to the _Hadron's _sacrifice.

"Zheng, Brunel system real time, on screen now." In a flash, a holographic image of Brunel system similar to one found in a strategy game, appeared in front of him. He watched as the _Hadron_ deployed three small probes and blew up in a brilliant flash of orange.

"Zheng, what probes are those?"

"One communications jammer and two homing spy probes, it hijacks short wave communications and creates ghost waves, so it'll make fleetwide communications tough for them, not impossible though. The spy probes will home in on the cluster and track them, so I'll have real time information even if they hide/destroy from the systems sensors."

Anderson nodded, already he could see the probes were taking effect. The covenant fleet had broken formation and stalled.

"Admiral, Winter Contingency protocols are in full force, all armed forces in this sector are mobilised and civilian evacuation have begun. Commanders and key leadership are requesting your presence to discuss the battle, what is your response?" Zheng asked.

"Tell them not now," The A.I nodded. "Zheng, what's the status of the ODP's, can they be fired?"

"Admiral, the ODP's are still in simulation stage, they were only supposed to be tested today! Everything is very theoretical and we are anticipating many problems..."

"Can it be done, Zheng? I need a straight answer." Anderson cut short the A.I's explanation.

The A.I sighed. "Simulations done by ONI A.I's suggest a 72.39% chance of a successful chance. But Admiral, I would not recommend it, there is a 67.9% chance some unforeseen problem will show up during test."

"I'll take the odds," Anderson muttered. "Zheng prepare the ODP's for firing. It'll be more entertaining than shooting an asteroid at least"

"Uh Admiral, power connection check is in the final stage and should be done in two minutes. But, the ODP's magnetic coils need to be charged up, and that's going to take 13minutes 43 seconds at the quickest."

Anderson cursed internally. "Do your best Zheng." Against four Covenant capital ships, the ODP's were crucial if he was to win the engagement, as the Mark V's could _theoretically_ punch straight through a fully shielded Covenant Capital ship. However, at full Sublight burn, the battle would be over with the time needed to bring the platforms to operational status.

"Admiral, shipmasters are requesting a rally point. Should I direct them to standard defensive formation?" Zheng asked.

Anderson didn't answer, too engaged in studying the Tacboard. He watched as the Covenant found the source of the Com jamming and destroyed the probe. _We need to delay them, but how?_ He thought.

"Admiral?" Zheng inquired. "Your orders?"

Anderson ignored him. He needed a delaying action, but couldn't lose too many ships, he also needed to divert attention away from the ODP's...

He got it.

"Negative Zheng, split the fleet up. Bring all frigates under the _Audacious's _command and bring us in orbit over Xander, full speed. Put the rest of the fleet under Captain Lee's command and have them position over Port Atlantis."

Anderson studied the Tacboard as Zheng and the bridge hurried to follow his orders. He watched as his cruiser and eight frigates rushed to Xander, a terrestrial body and the fifth planet away from the sun. Meanwhile, the covenant had managed to reorganise their fleet, and was preparing to depart Euclaydias, a gas giant and the seventh planet away from the sun.

Anderson's plan was simple and he had specifically chosen the fastest ships in his fleet to delay. He would utilise the UNSC's long- range supremacy to harass the Covenant, forcing them to slow down and engage him. Meanwhile, he would use the speed of his ships to retreat with each shot and prevent getting sucked into a battle. After garnering the Covenant's attention, he would slowly fall back to his main fleet at Port Alantis- situated on the opposite side of the ODP's, thus drawing Covenant attention away from them. He would then detonate the mines and bring them into the crossfire of the full fleet and ODP's, which would hopefully be then ready.

If not, well he hoped to God his 18 ships would be enough to take down the Covenant's eight ships.

"Admiral," Zheng said, "unfortunately, the UNSC _Peking _cannot partake in this battle. Her weapons system was taken offline and it will take at least an hour for them to be switched back on and recalibrated."

Correction 17 ships, _Could be worse_. "Thank you Zheng."

Anderson observed his crew, whilst they all seemed professional, tapping into consoles, maintaining systems, he could feel an air of nervousness and tension. He continued watching them for a moment.

"Admiral, we are entering Xander's orbit." His navigation officer called out.

Anderson nodded and glanced at the Tacboard. The Covenant were about to enter Xander's orbit as well, and were gunning for his small battlegroup.

"Weapons, confirm we are full charge and all systems ready to fire. Zheng, tell me when the enter max weapons range, and have the battlegroup adopt combat formation Charlie."

"Confirm, Admiral," and "Yes, Admiral," Came the respective replies.

The tension, if hidden before, was almost palpable now.

"Zheng, give me fleetwide coms."

"Yes admiral, you are live."

Anderson paused for a sec, clearing his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, today the Covenant have finally decided to show up in Brunel system, and continue their genocidal campaign against humanity. But that's what they think and it is _not_ what will happen! We _will _beat back this scum that thinks they can bully us, and show them why they chose the wrong species to mess with. Good luck everyone and do humanity proud! Anderson out."

Anderson smiled as enthusiastic applause erupted on his bridge as his speech finished. His small speech had served to boost morale, which was never bad before a fight.

"Admiral," Zheng interrupted the celebrations. "Covenant about to enter max weapons range. They are reducing speed and appear to be reinforcing shields."

"Excellent," Anderson replied. "Salve all firing systems to the _Audacious_, fire on my mark."

_3...2...1..._ "MARK." Anderson roared. On cue, his ship shook as it fired its deadly projectile. On screen, he saw nine blinking dots travel from his battlegroup towards the Covenant fleet. He watched as the Covenant fleet took evasive manoeuvres in attempt to dodge the MAC rounds.

"Sir, two enemy frigates hit and one enemy destroyer hit. Shields held up, no damages taken. Rest of the rounds missed." Zheng reported, again reading from a scroll.

Anderson nodded, he didn't expect much as it would have taken a miracle to score a kill at this range. However, it had achieved its objective of forcing the Covenant to slow down. "Switch off all non-essential systems, Divert power 20% to engines, reverse thrust, rest to weapons. Inform me when we can fire again." He ordered.

"Copy Admiral, disengaging from Xander's orbit." Zheng replied. "Admiral, Covenant deploying corvettes!"

Indeed they were. Anderson watched as one corvette each descended from the belly of each CCS Battlecruiser, bringing the total to 11 Covenant ships

"Admiral, weapons charged in one minute." Said his weapons officer.

One minute later, the Battlegroup hit five out of nine shots, draining the shields of the two frigates and scoring hits on the other destroyer and one CCS Battlecruiser.

All of a sudden, the two destroyers, two corvettes, one frigate and one CCS Battlecruiser rushed forward.

"Admiral, it seems the Covenant are deploying a skirmish force to rush us." Zheng reported calmly.

_Smart_, Anderson thought. The Covenant had realised his hassling strategy was slowing them down and would eventually score a kill. Therefore, they sent flotilla to engage Anderson's fleet, hoping to engage his small battlegroup in a fight to reduce his numbers and end his hassling. By doing so, it eliminated the UNSC's long range weapons supremacy and forced a fight that played to the Covenant's strengths- short range battles. It was exactly the thing Anderson was hoping to avoid. However, as he watched the flotilla deploy scores of seraphs, banshees and gunboats, Anderson had already devised a counter strategy.

"Zheng, divert power 40% to engines, deploy our longswords- defensive duties only, and ready the archer missiles and PDG's. Relay that to the frigates as well." He paused. "Have marines assigned to anti-boarding duty as well."

There was nothing Anderson could do but watch as the Covenant slowly reduced the gap between him and his battlegroup, as there was still a bit over a minute till his MAC cannon was charged.

Just as his MAC cannon charged up, the flotilla had closed the distance between them that his battlegroup was in their weapons range. He could see the plasma heat lines glowing red on the Tacboard.

"Zheng, give us targeting solutions on the Frigate and destroyers. Ignore the corvettes and the Battlecruiser or we wont stand a chance!"

Anderson watched as the rounds from his battlegroup cut through the inky black space. At such a close distance, it was extremely difficult for the Covenant to dodge, and thus, all nine shots hit. The Covenant frigate shields, weakened by the early shots, collapsed after the first round, and blew up in an insidious display of blue, green and orange. The Covenant destroyer targeted by the _Audacious_ didn't fare any better despite the stronger shields and armour, ceasing to exist in a similar display. The final destroyer managed to just survive, albeit heavily damaged, and limped out of the fight.

The bridge of the _Audacious_ erupted into ecstatic cries of happiness at having drawn a successful first blood. Anderson was similarly optimistic, but was distracted by the CCS Battlecruiser unrelentingly bearing down his flotilla.

"Admiral, detecting heat buildup... recommend evasive action!" Zheng urgently cried out.

But before Anderson could give the order, two blinding white, brilliant blue-white beams of energy lashed out across the space, effortlessly piercing the armour of two frigates in Anderson's flotilla. The two frigates for a moment remained still, but blew up in a raging inferno as the highly energised particles penetrated the titanium battleplate like a bullet shot through paper. There were no survivors

_Holy shit_, Anderson thought. "I want 50% to engines and set us in a loose combat formation." He barked. _We can't get dragged into a conflict with the battlecruise_r, _we need to either end this, or scare him away_. "Prepare Archer missiles and Shiva for launch," he added.

He glanced at the timer on the Tacboard. Just over 11 minutes had elapsed, he just needed to buy 4 more minutes of time. As he waited for his weapons to charge, he quickly went through the plan for the next phrase.

"Admiral, the battlecruiser is firing plasma torpedoes!"

Anderson watched in horror as five graceful droplets of purple curved from the Battlecruiser, soaring through the dark space with the intention to kill.

"All ships, evasive manoeuvres! Deploy chaffs and raise electronic countermeasure!"

Anderson gripped his seat as Zheng pushed the cruiser to the extremes. At such range, there was a good chance they could dodge the torpedoes, with help from the countermeasures. If that wasn't enough, he knew from personal experience the Halcyon class could take a battering, although it wouldn't be ideal. The frigates, however, he wasn't so sure.

Anderson watched with relief as two torpedoes fizzled out, the countermeasures and range proving too much. That expression switched to shock as he watched the frigate _UNSC Volk_ fall prey to one deadly ball of purple, easily burrowing past 60cm of Titanium with ease, detonating and obliterating the ship.

"Admiral, last two torpedoes are heading for us." Zheng said. "Apologies Admiral, correction, the last torpedo is heading for us."

True to the A.I's word, the first of the two torpedoes had spiralled away, losing track of its target. The last one though was rapidly closing distance to the _Audacious_.

"Prepare to step on my mark," He broadcasted loudly. "Wait for it... MARK." The _Audacious_ suddenly jerked erratically as it dodged the torpedo.

"Successful manoeuvre Admiral," Zheng reported. "Slight charring of starboard armour but that's about it."

Anderson sighed with relief, that could have gone much worse, and it was rare that over half of the torpedoes would miss, he guessed he had the new upgraded electronic countermeasures to thank.

"Sir, weapons armed! Mac charged!"

"Then by all means fire!"

Hundreds of archer missiles and one Shiva nuclear missile emptied the launch tubes of the six frigates and one cruiser, spiralling and twirling in their mesmerising dance towards the lone battlecruiser. But just as they were about to hit, the battlecruisers pulse laser turrets intercepted them, each laser violently destabilising the explosive compounds in the missile, detonating it prematurely. However, it was not enough as the sheer number of archers overloaded the missile defense system, and many, including the Shiva, impacted, draining but not depleting the shields.

And just as the missile salvo was over, the battlecruiser was granted no rest. Six 600ton depleted uranium rounds shattered the darkness of space, slamming into the Covenant ship with furious force, finally managing to drain its shields. With its shields down, the Covenant ship hastily turned the bow of the ship in attempt to retreat. However, the _Audacious_, fired its single Heavy MAC shot, smashing the thick starboard nanolaminate plating and causing minor explosions as plasma lines erupted.

Somehow the ship survived, albeit heavily damaged and out of the fight. It limped away to rejoin the main invasion fleet, covered by the sole remaining destroyer and the two corvettes.

Anderson breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had lost three frigates, the battle had gone relatively well, destroying one destroyer and one frigate, whilst severely damaging the CCS class battlecruiser and other destroyer. When taking into account Covenant space supremacy and the usual 3-1 rule, they had faired well.

"Admiral enemy fighters disengaging, should we pursue?" Zheng asked?

"Negative, pull back our fighters and repair and rearm them. Split them into offensive and defensive duties." Anderson replied.

"Yes Admiral." Zheng said no doubt relaying his orders. "We are exiting the minefield and entering New Llaneli's orbit, the Covenant fleet appears to be slowing to regroup and re-organise themselves in standard invasion formation." He added.

Anderson nodded. "Bring us back to the main fleet. Defense formation Charlie again, max guns to bear and loose formation.

Anderson glanced at the timer again, 1 minute 43 seconds till ODP's operational. His delaying action had gone well, taking four Covenant ships out of action whilst only losing three. A wave of displeasure flooded through him as he realised how he easily dismissed the death of three ships and the men in it.

_It normal Darren, the rational mind must prevail. Remember, lives are used, not wasted and in the long run this is for the better._ He tried to console himself. _Jesus, what will I become when this damned war ends._

Moments passed as his fleet and the Covenant reorganised quickly themselves, preparing for what would be the first main battle for space dominance over New Llaneli.

"Admiral, Covenant fleet entering minefield." His weapons officer reported.

"Wait for their entire fleet to enter and then detonate." He replied. "Detonate now." He ordered.

Violent flames erupted in the midst of the Covenant fleet. One corvette fell prey to nuclear fire, whilst the damaged destroyer also succumbed to the fiery flames and broke apart as sheer kinetic energy overwhelmed it. To the covenants credit, the rest of the covenant fleet continued undaunted, the shields and tough nanoluminate armour holding strong, emerging from the minefield battered but not broken.

_Lets see if they are still strong after this_. Anderson thought. "All ships, fire!"

From the middle of the fleet, Anderson watched as the full force of humanity was unleashed against the Covenant invaders. Twenty-two MAC rounds from his cruisers, heavy carrier, destroyers, and frigates rocketed across the void, a volley of overwhelming destruction and raw kinetic power, smashing into the glowing silver shields of the Covenant ships. Three ships were ripped apart with the salvo, the damaged CCS Battlecruiser and the remaining frigate and corvette, gutted from bow to stern. The other corvette whilst not destroyed, was damaged to the extent it was leaking atmosphere. The remaining two Battlecruiser and Assault Carrier stood strong, only taking minor shield damage from the salvo.

The Covenant response was devastating to say the least. Angered by their loss and eager to seek revenge, they returned fire with everything they had. Energy projectors slicing through destroyers with ease, dozens of plasma torpedoes boiling through meters of titanium like a hot knife cutting through butter. Seeking to destroy the puny humans who dared kill their comrades, swarms of seraphs and banshees furiously engaged longswords.

By the time the Covenant had expended their weapons systems, the defending fleet had lost half their ships. Three frigates and four destroyers were lost, whilst Captain Lee's _Marathon Class _Cruiser was crippled and was on the brink of destruction. Anderson's own ship had taken two plasma torpedo hits and wasn't faring well. All in all, only five ships out of seven were combat operational.

They would not last one more battle, and they still had the damned Assault Carrier to kill. He glanced at the timer: 0:00 minutes.

"Zheng, fire ODP's! Both to target the Assault Carrier, fire NOW!"

"Negative Admiral, the ODP's are reporting a small glitch, it shouldn't take too long to fix bu-"

"Dammit Zheng we don't have time!" From the Tacboard he watched as the Covenant fleet split its remaining ships. He could see one CCS Battlecruiser and the corvette heading planetside to deploy its ground forces, whilst the Assault Carrier and other CCS Battlecruiser headed towards the remains of his fleet.

"Zheng inform planetary command they have covvies inbound, tell Lee, Manz and-" Anderson suddenly stopped as _something_ slammed into the Covenant Assault Carrier, ripping a hole through its middle.

"Firing ODA003," Zheng said with a slight smirk on his face."

A second 3000ton ferric-tungsten round travelling at 11,991,698 meters per second shred the space in front of Anderson's eyes. This time, the round impacted the volatile plasma store of the Assault Carrier, and with that, the Carrier ceased to exist, as the 5km long ship exploded in a fiery display.

The entire bridge fell silent with such majestic display of firepower. For a good 10 seconds it seemed everyone was captivated by the first combat operation of the Mark V ODP, including the Covenant ships which remained fixated.

"Bloody hell fire that thing again!" Anderson broke the silence.

ODA001, which had by then reloaded thanks to the 20 second charge time, fired its second shot at the Assault Carrier's CCS battlecruiser. The 3000ton round blew through the capital ships shields with ease, punching a hole through the hull of the ship and continued on.

The CCS battlecruiser simply fragmented into bits with a deadly explosion and blinked out of existence.

By now the remaining battlecruiser and corvette had realised the threat the ODP's were and had turned their attention to them.

"Zheng, put us between the ODP's and the Covenant!" Anderson ordered.

But Anderson needn't have worried, for another round from the ODP's eliminated the last battlecruiser. _Jesus, damn things make killing Covvies look so easy." _Anderson thought, shaking his head.

Meanwhile, the covenant corvette, the last remaining ship of the Covenant advance fleet had decided that fighting was pointless and retreat was the better option.

"Detecting static and strong force particle buildup at the ship's bow. Admiral the ships about to jump!" Zheng cried.

"Don't let it escape!" Anderson roared. The ship slipped into the portal just as ODA003 fired a shot.

The portal closed and the ship was gone, but so too was the MAC round.

"Did it hit?" Anderson asked?

"Negative Admiral," Zheng replied sadly shaking his head. "Glancing blow, the shot was rushed. Somewhere in slipspace, the corvettes damaged but still alive."

Anderson sighed, frustrated. They were so close to beating the Covenant, _just one ship had escaped_, but the stupid corvette would now return to wherever the Covvies homeworld was, and bring back reinforcements. Anderson wanted to punch something but kept his cool.

"Good job everyone," Anderson said to his crew, who cheered heartedly in response. What they had done was a miracle, their seventeen ships managing to defeat the Covenant fleet of 11, with four being capital ships. However, the loss of 12 friendly ships, was just beginning to set in and he knew the guilt would not be something he welcomed.

_I can deal with that later,_ he thought. _But for now..._ He forced a smile on his face. For now New Llaneli was safe, they had destroyed an invasion force consisting of a bloody Assault Carrier and three CCS battlecruisers, albeit with a lot of help from the ODP's. They could have done worse.

"Zheng, begin cleanup, sweep for survivors and direct damaged ships for repair." Zheng nodded and rolled opened his scroll.

"Oh and tell HIGHCOM that we are going to need reinforcements," he added grimly.

* * *

**Thank you for the two kind review and those who read the prologue! I deliberated a long time whether I should continue this series (due to time pressures) but eventually my daydreaming/thoughts just spiralled so I just decided eh, why not.**

**Again, please comment, review on this chapter, give me your thoughts, constructive criticism, etc. This is my first fanfic and I still have no idea how well my writing is therefore any advice is appreciated! **

**Cheers,**

**_Semper Honesta_**


	3. Chapter 3

The Stand of New Llanelli:

\- Right I'm back, not really a fighting chapter this, more of a character/plot development. But promise there will be more more aggressive/interesting chapters in the future

* * *

Chapter 3- The Wheels of war:

07:00 Hours, February 5th, 2546 (UNSC military calendar). _UNSC Indomitable,_ Resolution Class Carrier, Docked with Service Station Anchor 2, In orbit over planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani system.

First there was darkness, and then there was light.

Like an explosion of a nebula in the dark confines of space, a bright flash of blue and green erupted, illuminating the stale, suffocating darkness. The harsh light streamed through to all directions, to all shades of black. Yet despite the ferocity of such a harsh glare, it failed to pierce all it set eyes on. Light and dark, a constant, epic battle. The blue-green glow shone like a lighthouse on a stormy night, a symbol of hope and safety in an environment of danger.

On closer examination of the light, revealed the avatar of a young woman, shining bright like a naked flame in a sealed, ancient Egyptian tomb. Peering around, she sighed theatrically, rolling her eyes before- with the flick of her hand- summoned light.

"Wake up Admiral," the figure said as she switched on the overhead lights. "Eight hours and 36 minutes of sleep should be enough."

The slumbering figure of Rear Admiral Edward Mathewson Wright shifted before rousing. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he glanced around before settling on the shimmering blue figure and muttered, "Jane, you know for an old man like me eight hours is barely enough."

"Pish posh, and you Admiral, know better than to argue with an artificial intelligence," Came Jane's playful reply.

Rather surprisingly to the computer, the Admiral's didn't retort back immediately, something she had grown accustomed to in their many years together. Instead, he seemed to muse on his thoughts for a bit, before replying.

"Sometimes it's not the quantity of sleep that matters but the quality of it," he said quietly as he slipped into his en-suite bathroom.

The A.I's features softened. "Nightmares again Edward?" She asked softly and tentatively, her voice mirroring his quietness.

Wright sighed, soaking his washcloth he began his morning ritual like usual. Yet to Jane, his silence was his admittance. Admittedly, she had suspected after observing his brainwaves spike during his sleep, but she had hoped for a more positive reason.

She watched with concern as the good Admiral inwardly fought to push away his demons. Although she had been paired with him for barely a year, she liked him and genuinely cared for him, more so than the average human-A.I pairing. At the age of 56, he was smart, experienced, quick thinking and a strong leader. His hardworking ethic and genuine concern to those under him made him respected and well liked, and his open style of command endeared him to everyone. To her, he was fun to work with and demonstrated himself to be competent.

But as Jane was witnessing before him, the experience he had earned at the age of 56 had its effects. Although he had a humorous, playful personality, there were time when the cracks on the wall showed. The sound of running water stopped as the Admiral turned the tap off and dried his face. For a moment he paused, staring into the mirror.

"I'll live Jane, only a few bad dreams. At this stage it would be not normal if I didn't get them," He paused, smiling wistfully. "Besides, they allow me to remember," he added.

"Edward..." She started, disapproval on her voice.

"Jane, I'm fine," he said a bit more forcefully, as he stepped towards the shower. "But Thank you for your concern," he added sincerely, a small smile gracing his lips as he turned to face her. "You'll be the first to know if I do need help, although lets hope that doesn't happen."

She returned the smile. Jane knew that was the best she could get out of the Admiral. Some demons couldn't be dragged out the closest regardless how hard you pulled, sometimes they had to come to you.

"Oh Jane, can you please download any important fleet-wide updates, ship updates, and todays itinerary to my datapad please?" Wright asked, as he turned on the taps of his shower. "And I'll assume nothing of major importance has happened in the last eight hours since you've said nothing?" He Added. And just like that the vulnerability he showed was replaced by utmost professionalism.

"Done, done and done Sir, and correct Sir." Jane replied, mentally assigning less than 1/1000th of her processing power to Wright's request and getting them done in roughly the same fraction of time it took to finish her sentence. "Would you like me to contact the galley and get your morning drink sent to the bridge as well sir?"

"Thanks Jane, and yes that would be good."

"Tea or Coffee?"

A moment pause. "Both please."

The A.I hesitated for a fraction of a fraction of a second- the computer equivalent of a human pause.

"Of course sir," she replied.

Tea and Coffee, otherwise known as _Yuanying_. An old drink originating from the Southern parts of China in the late 20th century. It supposedly had a bittersweet taste and creating a calming state of focus. It was the Admiral's comfort drink, taken after a particularly shaking event.

* * *

"Admiral on deck!"

With a steaming cup of milky brown liquid, Admiral Edward Wright walked crisply onto the bridge of the _Indomitable_, waving away the salutes of his bridge crew.

"At ease," he said. As he sat down on his command chair, sipping on his cup. "Sitrep?"

"Nothing much sir," the more senior of the two tactical officers on shift replied. "Shift change at 04:00 went smoothly, resupply missions over the night continued on schedule, simulations and tests on refitted and repaired equipment continuing without a hitch."

"Excellent work, keep it up." Wright replied. He watched as the officer who replied continued tapping on his console in a slow, unhurried manner. Whilst the other officer on duty proceeded to read something on his datapad, only glancing up at his own monitor and colleague every so often.

In a normal situation, the actions of both officers would be subjected to a severe reprimand and possible punishment. However, the _Indomitable _Carrier Battlegroup was currently on leave after coming back from deployment. Most of the ships marine and naval complement was on the ground, with only a skeleton crew and UNSC engineering on-board. Wright didn't blame the two officers for being bored- he too remembered his time as a lowly tactical officer, and besides it was common decorum to show leniency at these times. The tasks the two officers had to do could be accomplished solely by Jane, let alone two humans, they were there for the sole purpose of naval protocol and quick response- if anything happened.

_If anything happened_, Wright nearly snorted out loud. They were above Reach for heavens sake, nothing would ever happen above Reach.

The admiral himself shifted in his chair, sipping his warm mug and watching the countless black and grey shapes move like ants above the blue-green space of Reach. Hell, he himself didn't need to be here, only reason he was because of Naval protocol again.

Focusing, the Admiral drew up his datapad, remembering an event in his schedule today he needed clearing up on.

"Jane, do you have any more information on the Olympic meeting at 15:00 hours? All it says is the time, location, and a transport will be arranged from the Indomitable."

"Apologies Sir but that is all I know as well. However given the context of our situation right now there is a high chance we are receiving the briefings for our next deployment."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that," Wright said. "All good things do indeed come to an end." Turning to the two tactical officers who undoubtedly heard his exchange, he said. "You heard that? Back in the fray boys."

His two subordinates cheered half- heartedly at the news. "Lets hope HIGHCOM don't give us the rough pickings." One of them said.

"Lets hope indeed," The Admiral replied.

* * *

"_Indomitable control, this is Pelican Amber 389, transport for the Admiral to the mothership, request permission to land."_

"_Amber 389, this is control. Please send the landing codes for permission."_

"_Copy that control, sending now."_

"_Amber 389, codes are green. Please proceed to Hangar Bay two. Have a safe trip."_

Ending the dialogue, the tactical officer glanced up from his screen and turned towards the Admiral. "Sir, your chariot has arrived."

"Thank you." Wright stood up from his chair, straightening his uniform, he turned to towards the exit of the bridge.

"Jane, watch the ship for me if you please. Lieutenant Commander Horn, you have the ship." He said.

"Aye sir, I have the ship." The Lieutenant Commander replied, standing alongside his partner to salute the Admiral as he walked past.

The Admiral fired back a crisp salute as he exited the bridge, his marine guards falling behind in escort. A few short walks down hallways and a quick elevator ride later, the Admiral found himself climbing on the pelican, and very soon, it was off.

He looked out the window at the rapidly diminishing Anchor station as the pelican left it behind, the titanium structure quickly blending in with the turquoise background of space. He felt the internal temperature heat up as Pelican entered the atmosphere of Reach, the view from the window shift from green to white, the slightly uncomfortable turbulence from re-entry. But soon it was over and the Pelican soared gracefully over the plains of the Viery subcontinent, very much like the bird it was named for.

"Admiral, we're nearing Olympic tower. We should be landing in five to fifteen minutes depending on ONI control." The pilot broadcasted on the P.A system.

True to his word, the plains of Viery were soon replaced by the needles of New Alexandria. He felt the G-force pushing against him as the pelican decelerated, the graceful turns as the craft maneuverer around the skyscrapers, and then the eventual stop as the craft touched down on the rooftop landing pads of Olympic Tower.

Unstrapping himself, the Admiral nodded thanks to the pilot, before walking down the ramp into the biting cold February air of Reach. Greeting him stood an ONI aide escorted by two armoured military police.

"Admiral Wright, welcome to Olympic tower. If you'll follow me, the Admirals are waiting."

Following behind the ONI aide and escorted by the guards, Wright exited the landing pad, entering the gleaming needle that was Olympic tower, headquarters of FLEETCOM Section 1 and certain ONI personnel.

"Sir, if you'll step through the security checkpoint," One the guards motioned with his Assault rifle to the security station- manned by even more security personnel, by the door.

A few minutes later, after an extensive scan, pat down and biometric verification, he was hurtling down a nondescript silver lift, joined by the aide and the two guards.

"We will be heading to the basement sub-levels Admiral." The aide, who still had not introduced himself, said.

Admiral Wright nodded, not saying anything.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the lift doors dinged opened.

"After you Sir," The aide motioned for Wright to step out onto the utilitarian corridor with a fortified entryway on the other side. "The Admirals are awaiting us on the other side of the door."

Duly obliging, Wright walked toward the fortified door. He sighed upon noticing a terminal attached to the side of the door.

"Your security protocols are impressive." He said dryly with a hint of sarcasm, turning to the aide.

"Better safe the sorry," replied the aide smugly.

Wright internally snorted. The paranoia of ONI had no bounds, he would be amazed if there weren't hidden turrets aimed at him now, and if he hadn't been scanned and verified of his identity by the countless security A.I's during his short time here so far.

He positioned his iris and fingers for the terminal sensors to read.

"Rear Admiral Edward Mathewson Wright, SN 01998- 12268."

"Welcome Admiral, please hold still...scanning..." the console beeped.

Wright felt a prick on his thumb, but held still.

"Scanning complete, verification complete. Welcome to ONI Olympic Admiral Wright, have a nice day." With that, the solid titanium doors slowly rumbled open.

Wright turned away. "Really, blood verification?" He asked, somewhat incredulously.

"DNA's the hardest to fake sir." The aide replied simply. He motioned for Wright to walk through.

In response, Wright motioned back at him, pointing him towards the security terminal.

"Perks of the job sir, I have my own security clearance." The aide said smiling.

This time Wright did snort out loud, but dropped the subject and walked through.

Greeting him in what appeared to be a spacious conference room were several familiar figures.

"Vice- Admiral Stanforth, Major General Greene," Wright greeted, snapping to attention at the two figures he knew.

"Admiral Wright," Stanforth replied, whilst Greene snapped a salute of his own. "It's good to see you again."

Wright smiled, rarely could he call someone his friend, and it was good to see one he even rarely saw. Seeing two unknown figures in the room, he decided against dropping formalities.

"It's good to see you too Sir."

"Excellent, time is ticking. You already know Major Greene, your executive officer." Greene winked out the corner of his eye. "We also have Colonel Elizabeth Kearns of ONI section 3," he said motioning to an unknown brunette by the side.

"Admiral Wright, it's a pleasure. I see you've already met my aide Lieutenant Wagner " She said walking up to him.

"Colonel," he saluted simply. "I have indeed, he gave my a very pointed welcome."

The corners of Wagner's lips creased a tiny bit, but otherwise he gave no outward signs of expression.

"Right ladies and gentlemen, now that introductions are done, if we could all please have a seat and get started." Stanforth announced.

"Admiral, Major." Stanforth began. "As you have correctly deduced, this meeting concerns your next deployment. Normally we begin with a briefing, but here it'll be easier if we open with a video." He flicked on a hologram projector on the table.

And with that, the Rear Admiral and major watched the scenes of the First Battle of New Llaneli unfold on the table. They watched the 18 ships of the New Llaneli defence fleet respond to the surprise Covenant invasion, first blood drawn from the sacrifice of the listening station. They observed the hastily assembled delaying action and opening salvos and gradual retreat. Grimly, he watched as the full might of the Covenant fleet opened fire on the fleet, fully expecting the worse as the covenant capital ships turned to finish off the stricken fleet.

But was left speechless as the Covenant Assault Carrier suddenly found a massive hole ripped through its side, seconds later he watched with the same disbelieving look as the CCS Battlecruiser was ripped open as well.

Both senior officers watching the footage for the first time watched the rest of the film in stunned silence. When Stanforth switched off the projector, it was a good thirty seconds before Wright spoke.

"Holy shit." Wright said, it was all he could say.

"Those orbital MAC's... just wow. They ripped through a full shielded Assault Carrier in one shot. One shot!" His second in command added, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Those were the 5th Generation big sticks I guess?" Wright asked. "I heard a rumour they could slice a capital ship in half... but I never thought it was actually true..."

"The Mark V's have been greenlit for production following what Command sees as a successful test trial." Kearns stated. "All production of the Mark IV's have been stopped and will be replaced by the V's on all colonies.

"Regardless," Stanforth interrupted smoothly. "The purpose of this meeting today isn't about the Orbital Mac's, although it will be useful to remember their capabilities. Rather, we are to discuss this." He slid a plain manila envelope to everyone on the table.

The group read in silence for several minutes, with only the sounds of flicking pages heard.

"I'm left with more questions than answers after reading this," said Wright dryly, looking up from the briefing.

"I thought we removed most of the black ink and redacted phrases when we raised the Admiral and Major's security clearance for this." Stanforth asked the ONI personnel.

"We did," Wagner said. "Or at least I did, I wrote this briefing."

"No, no," Wright interjected. "It's not that, it stuff like," he looked down at the briefing, "_New Llanelli's strategic and tactical value is only second to..."_ He looked back up with a questioning look, "no it's not second to anything, it's a medium value- at most, colony with a decent size population. A fair bit of industry sure, a bit of agriculture but that's about it. Paris IV has more value than New Llanelli and that's not second."

The only response Wright got was for Kearns and Stanforth to leaf through the briefing.

"Huh it's actually not explained." Stanforth muttered, shooting a look at Wagner, who sat with his best poker face. "Do you want to do the honours? After all it is your territory" He asked Kearns."

She nodded. "I'll start from the very beginning."

"New Llanelli is a human colony located in Brunel System. First charted in 2398, it was only in 2455 when it was settled and colonised, first by Welsh settlers- hence the welsh name of the planet." She pulled up a holographic image of the planet.

"Growth was quite slow, the planet needed a mild amount of terraforming and initial population was low." She spun the projected planet around. "Planning authorities initially designated the planet as an agricultural colony, a way to ensure a more steady supply of food." She turned to a confused looking Major Greene. "Inferior Slipspace drives of the day meant food took a long and unpredictable time to arrive to arrive from the agricultural planets of the outer colonies. By placing an agricultural colony in inner colony space it was hoped travelling times would be shorter, and hence ensure a more stable supply. However as colonies such as harvest grew more successful and slipspace engines improved, it solved the problem New Llanelli was designed for, and thus we forgot about it, and New Llanelli just carried on existing quietly."

"However by the turn of the century, things began changing. Local UNSC forces found forerunner ruins in a terraforming incident. That itself isn't too special, forerunner ruin have popped up in similar incidents on other planets, so standard protocol was enacted. ONI was sent in, we hushed up the discovery, and kept digging to see if we could find more."

"Not this is where it gets interesting, 95% of the time no more discoveries are made but extensive forerunner structures were found when we continued." Kearns tapped the holographic planet a few times and a dark shade of blue grew to encompass parts of the planet.

"Here you can see the areas where forerunner artefacts have been found, as you can see quite extensive. Upon discovery upon discovery, ONI had to hush this up, so we artificially limited growth and attempted to keep a low profile."

"However as the Covenant war dragged on, outward pressures meant we couldn't limit growth anymore, especially when mining team found titanium rare earth deposits under the ground, so-"

"You changed the story and paired ONI's humongous presence with UNSC forces to remove suspicion." Greene finished.

"More or less," Kearns shrugged. "Have no doubt, the true New Llanelli we know today is strategic and deserving of such large UNSC presence. Large titanium deposits, ONI Research and Development strongholds, industrial and corporate headquarters. Sinoviet industries, Misriah armouries, North Central, Vubero research, you name any defence corporation or scientific Research and Development Company and they are on New Llaneli."

"Do not underestimate the significance of New Llaneli," this time it was Wagner that spoke. "The resources and knowledge this colony contributes is vital to the war effort, even if this colony's days are numbered, every scrap of information and research that can be evacuated off the planet will aide the war effort in more tangible ways than a naval battlegroup."

"Perhaps the Lieutenant is being a tad bit dramatic," Stanforth said eyeing the raised eyebrow of Major Greene, "but he is somewhat correct. Take for example the Mark V ODP, the technological breakthrough from that was from the personnel on New Llanelli. There are thousands of other discoveries on that planet that are feeding into thousands of other projects, some of which have the ability to change the course of this war."

For some reason when the Stanforth said that, Wright didn't feel like he was exaggerating at all.

"If the data is so valuable, why not just back it up?" He asked.

"Because the sheer volume of it would make it impossible, it would be like backing up all military data on reach." Kearns replied.

Wright nodded, now he understood everything.

"Alright Sir, what do we have to do?"

Stanforth stared at him for a second, before exchanging glances with Kearns, who simply nodded.

"Very well," he said, glancing down at the briefing.

"I hereby authorise the enlargement of _Carrier Battlegroup Indomitable, _and the deployment of her ships to the defence of Brunel System, under the command of Admiral Edward Mathewson Wright. May you protect all those that make up the UEG and.."

* * *

**\- Right I'm back. I do apologise for taking so long to get this chapter out, but this was a somewhat tough chapter to write. I know it is more boring than the previous two, but those of you writers reading this hopefully understand that plot/character development is necessary even though it can be a bore**

**\- The next few chapters should be easier to churn out and I promise will be more interesting. So stick around for more space combat + James/Sophie and other characters**

**\- Again please review/comment/give a favourite on my writing. Give constructive criticism and all that since as writers we can't really tell how we are doing.**

Yours,

_Semper Honesta_


End file.
